O'Neal wants a federal inquiry into the closure of a local hospital purchased by a large health conglomerate, he said. More information about that here.

He'd also like to see Medicaid expand, putting him at odds with a number of his fellow Republicans, but that's not the primary focus of his walk.

“The people of eastern North Carolina support Governor McAuliffe in his fight to expand Medicaid, insure hundreds of thousands Virginians, and protect rural hospitals from closing," O'Neal said in a statement today.

“I am here to tell you that the failure to accept Medicaid expansion is not the only failure that is threatening rural hospitals," he said. "Our governments, which should be the voice of the people, are failing to regulate regional monopolies that seek to eliminate competition and deprive our communities of preventative health care, emergency health care, and even the country doctors that America's heartland has depended upon for centuries."